This invention concerns a safety device for firefighters, and is more particularly concerned with an emergency light and sounder for marking a window or door exit so that the firefighter can find the exit when the building itself is on fire and may be filled with smoke and flame.
Currently, audible and visual alarms and similar safety devices are needed for fire safety use. In particular, when a building is on fire, firefighters arriving at the scene have to enter various parts of the building to ensure that any victims who may be present inside the building can be led to safety. The firefighter may also have to enter the building to attack the fire itself from inside. In either event, when the firefighter enters through a door or window, it is imperative to mark the door or window so that he or she can find the exit. Visibility inside a burning building is limited because of heavy smoke or flame. The typical practice is to place a flashlight or lantern at the exit, with the beam of the lamp pointing in the direction from which the firefighter expects to exit later. This is not always satisfactory, because the smoke does not allow the flashlight beam or lantern beam to penetrate very far.
There have been several audible and visual beacons proposed previously, which could be employed for this purpose. Altilio U.S. Pat. No. 5,898,363 relates to a portable exit beacon with an audio oscillator and a strobe light under a dome on top of the unit. Mayhew U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,383 relates to an emergency flasher strobe light. Whitehead U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,506 relates to a light-guiding system for partly collimating a light beam, which can be used in a beacon. Puppo U.S. Pat. No. 6,137,396 relates to small visible marker comprising an LED and which can be directly attached to a 9V battery. None of these prior approaches provides a beam that will cut through the smoke of the burning building, and none of them includes any means for securing the beacon to a surface at or adjacent to the exit.
Another problem is that the small portable marker or beacon may need to be secured to a vertical surface, e.g., the wall next to a window or door, the frame of the window or door, or the door jamb, and in the case of a doorway, may also need to be used to wedge the doorway open. Of the devices that have been previously proposed, Stein et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,317,047 shows one type of firefighter safety device which incorporates a hook-like arm that can be placed over a door hinge to keep the door in an open position. However, that device does not include any means for mounting it onto a vertical surface, or for wedging the door open anywhere but at the hinge side of the door.